Wednesday of Week 16 in Ordinary Time
Ex 16:1-5,9-15
Mt 13:1-9
… the Lord spoke to Moses and said, ‘I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel… “Then you will learn that I, the Lord, am your God.”‘
Our Lord is a generous God, and He is generous beyond our grandest imaginations and wildest expectations. But to really know it, believe it, and experience it, we must keep our hearts open and soft. A hard heart could never have rich and fertile enough soil to receive and germinate a seed of love.
In the first reading of Exodus today, the whole community of the sons of Israel lamented and complained against Moses and Aaron for leading them out of Egypt, only to be left in the wilderness hungry, tired and lost. In fact, they seemed to have forgotten their awful God-forsaken lot as slaves in Egypt, suffering at the hands of unjust masters interminably.
They grumbled and moaned: ‘Why did we not die at the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we were able to sit down to pans of meat and could eat bread to our heart’s content! As it is, you have brought us to this wilderness to starve this whole company to death!’ (Ex 16:3)
I can only imagine the frustration and disbelief of Moses and Aaron upon hearing this. They may also have been hapless to lift the spirits of these groaning crowds. At the same time, I have great empathy for the Israelites, because they really had a hard life. They risked their lives to escape persecution to go in search of the Promised Land — they must have feared being chased after, caught and tortured should they be found. At any moment, they would have felt that the grass was dead on either side!
God heard their cries and grumbles and did not scoff nor look askance. Instead, He was filled with great compassion for these lost and hungry sheep, who were desperately in need of sustenance. Haven’t we all experienced an inexplicable grumpiness and felt ‘hangry’ when we were famished and yet could not fill our bellies? It would be far worse for the Israelites. Many would criticise them, but those who have really gone severely hungry before would know that it messes with your mind.
For some, in great desperation and in the abyss of deep depression, unimaginable words have been muttered, inexplicable acts have been committed. It is easy to judge, but far harder to empathise and relate.
But not for our Heavenly Father. God told Moses: “I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel. Say this to them, “Between the two evenings you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have bread to your heart’s content. Then you will learn that I, the Lord, am your God.” (Ex 16:12)
It is specifically in this passage that we witness the foretelling of the Eucharistic miracle that Jesus was to perform.
‘… in the morning there was a coating of dew all round the camp. When the coating of dew lifted, there on the surface of the desert was a thing delicate, powdery, as fine as hoarfrost on the ground. When they saw this, the sons of Israel said to one another, ‘What is that?’ not knowing what it was. ‘That,’ said Moses to them, ‘is the bread the Lord gives you to eat.’ (Ex 16:13-15)
God did not just give the hapless and delusional Israelites mere bread — He provided miraculous manna that materialised from the delicate morning dewfrost in the desert. All of this, God gave abundantly. This is His mercy and generous grace. He has given of himself freely in the Eucharist, and he offers himself up for us to taste and see that the Lord is indeed good.
As we read the scriptures today — the first reading and the gospel passage — may we humbly recognise our human limitations and feeble faith in the face of His mercy and glory. For those who have been enduring a long suffering, or a dry season in the wilderness wandering and wondering whenceforth cometh help, I hope that you will cling tightly to God’s promise and reminder in today’s scriptures.
Cling on not because you can believe, but cling on because it can sometimes be very, very hard to believe… and pray.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Debbie Loo)
Prayer: Pray for a heart of rich and soft soil that will envelop and receive God’s seed of love. Though your soul may feel barren and dry, though your eyes may be crusty with dried-up tears, let His seed fall into the ground of your tender heart, and trust that in due time, “it may produce their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” (Mt 13:9)
Thanksgiving: Thank you God, for the gift of the Eucharist. Thank you for your generous love and mercy for us in spite of our ungratefulness and complains.
OXYGEN 
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